


Lost In Your Light

by deandratb



Series: Tumblr Micro Requests [21]
Category: The Doctor Blake Mysteries
Genre: F/M, My First Work in This Fandom, eek, i feel special now, wow i didn't realize this was a rarepair until there was no tag for them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-24
Updated: 2017-10-24
Packaged: 2019-01-22 07:34:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12476548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deandratb/pseuds/deandratb
Summary: Request fic, set sometime during series five.“You’re a real case; you know that, Mattie? I don’t want to fight with you.” She smiled. “But if we stop fighting, then what will we do?”





	Lost In Your Light

**Author's Note:**

> For [asummerevening](https://asummerevening.tumblr.com/).

“Mattie? Mattie O’Brien?”

Bundled to her chin against the cold wind, she turned around--wondering who could possibly have recognized her from behind, in the dark, while she was walking home at her usual fast clip.

The figure that came into focus under a streetlamp was the last person she’d expected to bump into, though maybe she shouldn’t have been surprised. Mattie knew he was in Melbourne, after all. That fact had lingered in the back of her mind when she accepted the offer to leave London and work closer to home. But after the first few weeks, when she half-expected to see him around every corner, she had let it fade.

Now here he was. Almost like fate.

“Danny.” She smiled, and waited for him to catch up. “Chasing evildoers on the mean city streets?”

“Off-duty,” he answered, falling into step with her when she started walking again. It was too cold to stay still for long. “Just finished for the day.”

That explained the uniform, then. She aimed a teasing grin his way. “You really do look grown up in this one.” Melbourne had matured him, she decided. The city suited Danny to a T.

“Thanks.” He studied her from under his eyelashes as they walked, not wanting to be obvious about it. Mattie would be the first to poke at him if she knew how often he’d thought about her since he left. He had heard she’d moved to his city, long after the fact, but he was so busy trying to prove himself that he’d filed the news away and carried on.

She looked...different, Danny thought. The light still bounced off her glowing hair, and there was still a constant smile lurking at the corners of her mouth, mischief just waiting for an opportunity. But she wasn’t the girl he’d taken such pleasure in annoying over breakfast anymore. Mattie O’Brien had gone and grown up.

“So. Where are you at, then?”

“A few blocks east.” She tucked a flyaway curl behind her ear, and caught him watching. “What about you?”

“Over in Carlton.”

She stopped. “Bit of a walk, isn’t it? You’re going the wrong way.”

Danny shrugged, scratching his head when she just kept waiting for an answer. Apparently that hadn’t changed--Mattie’s stare held the demanding patience he expected from the stubbornest girl he knew.

“It’s only the wrong way if home is where I’m heading,” he told her. “A walk sounds like just the thing.”

“If you’re looking to freeze,” she countered. “Nobody in their right mind is walking about at this hour.”

“Well, then, I guess I’m not in my right mind,” he replied with a grin. “Or maybe I’m just happy to see you.”

Startled into silence, she started moving again, ducking her head. Her pale complexion showed a blush too easily.

“Walking me home, then, are you?”

“Looks like it.” He tucked his gloveless hands in his pockets as they passed a few other brave souls out in the cold, lonely night. “Do you always head home this late?”

“Not always. I was with friends.” As though she knew what he was thinking, Mattie narrowed her eyes. “And I have as much right to be out late as you do, Danny Parks.”

He raised his hands in surrender. “Blame a guy for trying to look out for you.”

“It’s not necessary,” she said, chin high. “We girls can take care of ourselves without your help, you know. I’ve been doing so just fine.”

“Alright, alright.” He shook his head. “You’re a real case; you know that, Mattie? I don’t want to fight with you.”

She smiled. “But if we stop fighting, then what will we do?”

Keenly aware that their walk was almost over, he decided to take a chance. “Well...maybe we could see a movie.”

Mattie’s blank stare wasn’t terribly encouraging. “A movie?”

“Yeah. You know, this weekend? I don’t know what’s playing, but you could pick.”

“You mean, like a date?” She had thought she was well past her crush on him, especially with how he used to run so hot and cold. The fluttery feeling in her stomach begged to differ. “You want to go out with me.”

He rolled his eyes. Did she have to make it so difficult? “That was the idea, anyway. Unless you don’t want to.”

“No, I...I’d like that.” She tore her gaze away from him as she stopped walking. “I’m here.”

“Ah. Okay.” Danny looked up at her building, still a little stunned by his own bravery. He couldn’t quite believe it--she’d said yes, her wide eyes sparkling at him in a way he'd never seen before. 

“Come by Saturday, around noon?”

“Sure.” He cleared his throat. “I mean, yes. I’ll see you then.”

Danny squeezed her gloved hand with his bare one, then turned back the way they’d come. “G'night, Mattie,” he tossed over his shoulder in farewell.

Leave it to Danny to go off before she had the chance to reply, Mattie thought with fond exasperation, heading up the steps. It was so important to him to have the last word.

Who was she kidding? She was just happy to have seen him. 

Saturday couldn’t come soon enough.

**Author's Note:**

> Title from the song of the same name by Dua Lipa.


End file.
